Make your own Ghirardelli Chocolate Dessert Cups

I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but I do love how beautiful it can make even the most ordinary desserts. If you've ever wondered how chefs prepare some of their gorgeous chocolate creations, Ghirardelli lets us in on one of their secrets with this recipe for chocolate dessert cups which I found via bfeedme.com. Using balloons of all things, the procedure is really quite simple - dip inflated balloons partway into melted chocolate and let set in the freezer until solid.

The cups can be filled with just about anything - mousse, ice cream, berries, whatever your heart desires. Just be sure to remove all traces of the balloon before serving. If you'd like to try making these at home, the full instructions from the Ghirardelli website can be found after the jump.

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Vosges Chocolates - Green Truffle Collection

If you are looking for something a little more refined than marshmallow peeps and hollow chocolate bunnies this Easter season, Vosges Haut-Chocolat has released a Green Truffle Collection which showcases flavors inspired from Japan, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Included in each box is a mixture of:

Kayoko - Japanese green tea, white chocolate and cherry blossom
Kaffir - Thai kaffir, coconut and dark chocolate
Ellateria - Indian cardamom, dark chocolate and white poppy seeds
Buddha's Leaf - Malaysian pandan leaves, dark chocolate and cocoa powder

As I'm sure you can imagine, exotic flavors such as these come at a lofty price. According to their website, a box of 16 pieces (as pictured above) sells for $41.

As we have seen before, mixing unique flavors is nothing new for this company. In fact, according to their mission statement, Vosges' goal is "to create a luxury chocolate experience rooted in a sensory journey of bringing about awareness to indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate and the obscure." Mission accomplished, I would say.

Food for Thought plates

Here's an interesting item for the next time all you hepcats and kittens host a dinner party: retro plastic dinnerware emblazoned with carcass maps. For the noncarnivores out there, a carcass map is one of those endlessy fascinating diagrams that hangs in butcher shops.

My meat and fire-loving alter ego Joey Deckle tipped me off to Food for Thought plates, which are the brainchild of designer Charles S. Anderson. You probably can't read the text, but the piggy plate shown here is labeled swine.

If you have an inkling that the word "swine" implies some sort of tongue-in-cheek value judgment about meat eaters you're not far off the mark. The other three plates in the set are steer, lamb and mutt, which in this case is not short for mutton, but simply denotes dog. Sure they're a far cry from Williams-Sonoma's elegant Je demande du boeuf carcass map platter, but I still wouldn't mine having a set in my cupboard.

These royal chutneys will make your tongue dance

I was at a local food event today which show cased regional and local food products made by small / family businesses and farms. Every now and then I run across a product so good I have to share the news. The Bombay Emerald Chutney Company has not just one, but five great products. Their gourmet line of "Royal" Chutneys are fantastic: Royal Mint Chutney, Royal Tomato Chutney, Royal Plum Chutney, Royal Cranberry Chutney, and their new Royal Pomegranate Chutney. It's a Mom and Pop company who make their chutney by hand from their own family recipes using all natural ingredients that they personally buy themselves, and they have no preservatives.

My favorite is the Mint Chutney, made from Coriander, Lime Juice, Mint Leaves, Green Chilies, Salt & Spices. You would think that from such few and simple ingredients the flavor would be simple, but it's not. It has a very complex taste with just the right balance between the tangy lime, fresh mint, salt, and a nice but not lethal dose of spices. The Tomato Chutney has a very solid, summer ripe tomato presence, with the lemon, spices, salt, and cilantro bringing it all together.

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